Foreign Affairs CommitteeSupplementary written evidence from Mark Simmonds MP, Minister for Africa

During my 3 December evidence session to the Foreign Affairs Committee Inquiry on Extremism and Political Instability in North and West Africa, I agreed to write to Committee members with further information on some areas of interest. This information is attached to this letter, as follows:

Annex A: in response to Mr Rosindell’s question 247 and Mr Gapes’ question 252, I attach further details of the counter-terrorism support which we provide in North and West Africa, particularly in Nigeria.

Annex B: in response to Mr Stewart’s questions 256 and 260, I attach a breakdown of the language skills of FCO staff in North and West Africa.

Annex C: in response to Mr Roy’s question 269, I attach a clarification of the information provided in my colleague Mr Robertson’s recent letter to the Committee on UK support on border security/management, and whether this could be provided within a development aid package. For ease of reference, the original letter is also attached at Annex D.

Mr Robertson has also undertaken to inform the Committee on UK policy on migration following the meetings of the EU Home Affairs Council (5 and 6 December) and the European Council (19 and 20 December).

17 December 2013

Annex A

HMG COUNTER-TERRORISM ACTIVITY IN NORTH AND WEST AFRICA

I promised to provide the Committee with further details of the counter-terrorism (CT) support which we provide in North and West Africa. Our CT efforts are focused on countries where there is a threat to the UK. Our global CT fund for 2013–14 has a budget of £30 million, of which we spend 14% in N&W Africa. These funds support activity to build CT capacity in areas such as developing strategy and legal frameworks; aviation security; border management; and work to counter the ideology that drives violent extremism.

For operational and security reasons we cannot provide in-depth detail on all our projects. However, this note aims to provide as much detail as possible, focusing on Nigeria and North Africa, as the main targets of our bilateral CT work in the region. In addition, the work we carry out through multilateral partners, and our worldwide programmes which include N&W Africa, are listed below.

Beyond our formal CT work, we and partners across government also carry out a wide range of related programmes which support our CT activities. For example, DFID’s work in the Sahel to build stronger, more accountable states and increase the resilience of vulnerable communities will reduce the ability of terrorist groups to recruit and radicalise, and it will help legitimate governments to have control over their territory. We also carry out a range of conflict prevention work, with around £15m allocated to N&W Africa in 2013–14 through the tri-departmental Conflict Pool. This covers both security-related activity, such as the International Security Advisory Team in Sierra Leone; and governance and human rights activity including Ghana, Guinea-Bissau and Mali. We are also working to tackle organised crime, for example through the FCO Africa Drugs and Crime Fund, which allocated £318, 000 in 2013–14 to projects building law enforcement capacity in West Africa. If the Committee would find it useful, my officials can provide further information on this.

Nigeria

Nigeria is our key bilateral CT partner in the region, and our work there covers a range of areas. The Department for International Development (DFID) has allocated over £900m from 2011 to 2015, mostly focused on the north of Nigeria, focusing on poverty reduction, health and education. This recognises the need to adopt a long-term approach that tackles the drivers of violent extremism such as lack of governance and poverty. It also aims to help develop skills and jobs, provide better access to justice and reduce conflict. DFID is also looking at options for improving human rights compliance, especially amongst the military and police. Some of this work is already underway, including DFID’s “Justice for All” programme (£12.1m 2013–14) and the National Security and Reconciliation Programme (£4.5m 2013–14). DFID are working closely with the MOD and FCO to expand this work.

We are also cooperating closely with a range of Nigerian security-focused institutions on countering the threat from Boko Haram and Ansaru. In terms of practical training and capacity-building, we are working closely with the Office of the Nigerian National Security Adviser (ONSA) and specifically the National Security Adviser, Lt Col Sambo Dasuki. The UK’s Deputy National Security Adviser, Oliver Robbins, remains closely engaged with the Nigerian NSA, as do a number of senior FCO and MoD officials. Central to our cooperation is a training programme to help the Nigerian authorities investigate, arrest, try and sentence terrorists in a human rights compliant manner. We have allocated £1.6m to this programme in 2013–14, as well as a dedicated team of UK experts.

We have also provided crisis management training for the ONSA, using the COBR model and delivered through the Cabinet Office. An SO15 Police Attaché, based in Abuja, has provided advice and practical training to the Nigerians on managing hostage crises. The Police Attaché is leading a training team who are delivering a forensics-focused bomb scene management programme costing £50,000. And we are delivering an anti-terrorist finance training package to the Nigerian Government.

A British Military Advisory Training Team is based in Abuja and focuses on military to military cooperation and training, offering a range of training courses for the Nigerian military. £1m has been identified to enable a personnel uplift from two to seven in 2014–15; the FCO, MOD and DFID are looking at further options to increase its capacity, covering a range of areas, including human rights-compliant work in conflict environments, education and skills training, and possibly peacekeeping and maritime security.

We also seek to work with and through international partners. FCO officials have lobbied the EEAS and member states to allow the release of a portion of the €600m Sahel Security and Development fund (17% UK-funded) to Nigeria. In the summer, the EU’s FAC agreed to the release of an initial tranche of €15m to the ONSA for a range of CT-focused projects.

North Africa

Since the revolution in Libya, we have provided significant support to help Libya re-establish security within its borders. Most recently, the Prime Minister announced at the G8 summit that we would provide training to 2000 Libyan soldiers. We are also working with the Libyan government on aviation and border security and helping to prevent the proliferation of weapons. However, the lack of capacity in the Libyan government and security challenges on the ground limit the level of CT support that we can provide.

Algeria is also a key regional partner. In January 2013, the Prime Minister announced the launch of a strategic security partnership with the Algerian Government. The first meeting was held in London in April 2013 to discuss closer cooperation and the lessons of In Amenas. This partnership will help us to work more effectively with the Algerian government during future crises.

Multilateral

Where we have a more limited diplomatic footprint or interests, we focus on coordinating efforts with international allies and multilateral organisations. This often covers multiple countries, and so is listed according to partners:

Allies: We supported the French-led intervention in Mali with logistical and surveillance assets and intelligence-sharing. We continue to deepen our regional CT cooperation with the French and the USA, particularly in the areas of border security and aviation.

EU: The EU delivers significant assistance to the regional security sector, especially through the Instrument for Stability. This supports a number of regional capacity-building programmes focused on law enforcement, judicial capability, and border security. The largest programme of €7m includes support to the Sahel Security College in Niamey. Following the international intervention in Mali, we have worked closely with the EU Training Force in Mali, contributing military personnel and civilian experts (through the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative). We provide four people to the EU CSDP mission in Libya focused on border management.

GCTF: We are part of the Global Counterterrorism Forum, which was created in September 2011 by the US as a delivery-focused multilateral counterterrorism agency. It consists of 31 members, including all G8 members. The Sahel working group is chaired by Canada and Algeria. It focuses on coordinating civilian CT capacity in the region. This includes work to counter violent extremism, rule of law capacity-building and border security. Members of the working group have volunteered to coordinate CT activity in each country in the region. The UK leads coordination in Nigeria.

UN: We have used CT funds to provide counter-IED training to the Malian armed forces, which has been delivered by MINUSMA (the UK Peacekeeping Mission in Mali). We have also provided C-IED training to Nepalese troops deploying to MINUSMA.

G8: The Prime Minister made Kidnap for Ransom (KfR) and CT in North and West Africa priorities for the UK’s G8 Presidency. At the Lough Erne G8 Summit, G8 Leaders unequivocally rejected the payment of ransoms to terrorists, and agreed on the need to better coordinate international CT effort in the region.

Thematic CT Work

The Foreign Secretary announced our approach to CT overseas in a speech to RUSI in February 2013. We deliver CT Rule of Law programmes in countries where there is both a threat to the United Kingdom’s security, and weaknesses that give rise to concerns about the country’s ability to conduct counter-terrorism investigations and prosecutions in a human-rights compliant manner. They are designed to focus on working with police, prosecutors, judges and prison authorities to build their capacity to investigate, detain, prosecute and convict terrorists based on respect for human rights and the rule of law.

Some of our worldwide CT programmes operate in North and West Africa. This includes Aviation and border security. The UK delivers Aviation Security projects in priority countries across the region to increase protective security for carriers with direct flights to the UK. This includes maintaining levels of assurance on passenger and cargo checks, increasing physical protection at airports and mitigating the risk from Man Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPAD) attacks. This is carried out through a combination of security training of airport personnel and delivery of screening equipment and hardware. A Regional Aviation Security Liaison Officer (RASLO) covering N&W Africa is based in Rabat; an additional RASLO to be based in Lagos is being recruited, and will seek to improve aviation security regimes in liaison with Nigerian authorities.

We also conduct and share assessments with close allies on a broad range of capacity-building projects in the region and are stepping up our work with regional partners to reduce the risk of a successful MANPADS attack. We are assisting the Libyan authorities with their border management.

Annex B

FCO SPEAKER SLOTS IN NORTH AND WEST AFRICA

Country	Post	Language	Confidence	Operational	Extensive	Total	UK-based headcount
Algeria	Algiers	French	1	3	1	5	9
Côte d’Ivoire	Abidjan	-	0	1	0	1	*
Egypt	Cairo	Arabic	0	6	1	7	19
	Alexandria		0	0	0	0	*
Gambia	Banjul	-	0	0	0	0	*
Ghana	Accra	French	0	3	1	4	8
Guinea	Conkary	French	0	0	1	1	*
Liberia	Monrovia	-	0	0	0	0	*
Libya	Tripoli	1 Arabic; 1 Arabic & French	0	2	0	2	14
Mali (inc Niger)	Bamako	French	0	0	1	1	*
Morocco (inc Mauritania)	Rabat	French	0	7	1	8	9
	Casablanca		0	0	1	1	*
	Nouakchott		0	1	0	1	*
Nigeria	Abuja	French	0	2	0	2	25
	Lagos		0	0	0	0	8
Senegal	Dakar	French	0	2	0	2	*
Sierra Leone	Freetown	French	1	0	0	1	7
Tunisia	Tunis	French	1	0	1	2	7
			3	27	8	38	118

*—Less than five UK-based staff

Notes

All speaker slots are for UK-based staff. There are 38 in total; 29 French, 8 Arabic, and 1 joint Arabic and French.

These figures denote only job slots with formal language requirements, not the wider language skills which staff around the region have.

Some slots based in English-speaking countries carry language requirements to enable staff to cover non-English speaking countries where we have no permanent diplomatic presence. For example, staff in Accra cover Benin, Togo and Burkina Faso.

As the FCO Permanent Under-Secretary explained to the FAC on 26 November, we have had some difficulties in providing consistent figures on the number of speaker slots in our network. We have committed to continue to improve our information management, and to provide you with information on numbers of speaker slots at regular intervals. The information included here is the best that was available as of 30 November 2013, but as with our figures for speaker slots globally, may change slightly over coming months.

Annex C

CLARIFICATION ON AID AND BORDER MANAGEMENT

During the evidence session, Mr Frank Roy MP asked for clarification on UK support to border management/security and, specifically, whether the UK Government would be willing to explore the precise parameters of the OECD criteria on development aid to determine if border management could come out of development aid.

My Rt Hon Friend Mr. Robertson MP wrote to the committee on this matter on 22 November (attached at Annex D). I have provided further clarification below.

As Mr. Robertson’s letter outlined, the UK Government considers that border management work could be funded within OECD parameters as long as:

it is for the benefit of a country or territory on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) list of Overseas Development Aid (ODA) recipients, or to a multilateral development institution;

it is provided by official agencies; is concessional in character; and

it is administered with the promotion of the economic development and welfare of countries as its main objective.

The OECD criteria are therefore not a barrier to ODA spend on border management projects. The UK government constantly works to find the most effective and appropriate way to resource its overseas projects.

Annex D

LETTER TO THE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, FROM THE RT HON HUGH ROBERTSON, DATED 22 NOVEMBER, PROVIDING FURTHER INFORMATION ON MIGRATION POLICY AND UK SUPPORT ON BORDER SECURITY/MANAGMENT

During my 11 November evidence session to the Foreign Affairs Committee, on Extremism and Political Instability in North and West Africa, I agreed to write to Committee members with further information in two areas.

You asked about our policy on migration. I have undertaken to inform the Committee on this issue as soon as the EU Home Affairs Council on 5 and 6 December and the European Council on 19 and 20 December have met.

Mr Frank Roy MP asked about UK support on border security/management and, specifically, whether border training and digital technology could be provided within a development aid package, and whether this is how I see it being given.

We look for the most appropriate way to fund and deliver projects; all capacity-building programmes are assessed on a case-by-case basis. Providing border training and digital technology as part of a development aid package would depend on whether the activity was eligible as Overseas Development Aid (ODA)—against the OECD definition:

is a flow to a country or territory on the OECD DAC list of ODA recipients, or to a multilateral development institution;

is provided by official agencies;

is concessional in character; and

is administered with the promotion of the economic development and welfare of developing countries as its main objective.

In addition, any border management support designed to directly combat terrorism is not reportable as ODA, as it generally targets perceived threats to donor, as much as to recipient countries, rather than focusing on the economic and social development of the recipient. The financing of military equipment or services would also generally be excluded from ODA reporting.

A range of digital technologies can be used to aid border operations including detection of document fraud, improving the ability of local authorities to identify and disrupt threats to border security and the accurate recording of traveller information.

The UK’s current activity in the region is focused on reducing the risk to aviation and coordinating regional efforts on border management. The UK delivers aviation security projects in a number of priority countries to increase protective security for carriers with direct flights to the UK. This includes maintaining levels of assurance on passenger and cargo checks in line with international regulations, increasing physical protection at airports and mitigating the risk from Man Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS) attacks. This is carried out through a combination of security training of airport personnel, and delivery of screening equipment and hardware. On border management, the UK has provided equipment and training in key locations to strengthen security practices.

As an example, we are assisting the Libyan authorities with their border management. A UK Border Security Adviser is working with Defence and Interior Ministries on capacity-building, including wide-area surveillance training for border guards. UK experts have been seconded to key positions within EUBAM (EU Border Assistance Mission) in order to promote UK objectives and strengthen Libyan border and aviation security regimes. We are also funding two capacity-building projects to reduce the risk posed to civil aviation from MANPADs and build sustainable aviation security capacity. We are working with the Libyan Government to help it regain control and manage the Qadhafi era stockpiles of unsecured arms and ammunition.